Rise of Communism in China Communist Timeline

Rise of Nationalist Party Sun Yat-sen – Father of Modern China – Led revolution ending Imperial Rule in China – Formed Republic of China (1912) – Death in 1925 – caused split between communist and nationalist for heir to rule. Chang Kai-Shek – Leader of Nationalist following Sun’s death – Became overall leader of ROC in 1928

Nationalist vs. Communist 1920s & 1930s Communist (Red Army) early success – 4 victories – Guerilla warfare tactics Nationalist changed military tactics (strong hold) – 5 th military effort success Communist changed tactic to positional warfare and could not match forces – lost battle and support of people

The Long March Communist settled in S. Central China (Jianxi Province) Chiang sent army to hunt down Red Army and kill all those who favored Communism 1934 Communist started year long journey – 18 Mt. Ranges (6,000 miles) – 8,000 lived out of 100,000 – Yan’an final destination & headquarters – Postitives of March: Isolated, know land better, and went through villages gaining support Mao Zedong emerges as leader of Communist Party

Communist Take Over October 1, 1949 Japan takes control of Manchuria during WWII Forced Nationalist & Communist to Unite War ended in 1945 During and shortly after war, Communist carried out social reforms gaining support from peasants 1949 Nationalist and Chiang Kai-Shek defeated and fled to Taiwan – nationalist tired of fighting (8 years) and lost support of people Mao forms People Republic of China

Great Leap Forward Purpose – Make China an equal industrial nation to Western Powers in 15 years How are they going to fulfill it? – Make people work day and night – Focus on making steel Reasons it failed – Used the system of putting people into Communes Collective communities whose members share work and products equally (5,000 households) Motivation goes down – People were doing work they did not know how to do – Poor Technology

The Cultural Revolution - May Started by Mao Purpose – Wants new ideas (His) – Cleanse the party Losing power to rival leaders in the party following the failure of the Great Leap Forward – Destroy the “Four Olds” Ideas, Thought, Customs, Habits Mao created the “Red Guards” – Youth Militia that was encouraged to rebel against authority – Communes: unattached to parents and taught to worship Mao – Traveled around China for free and encouraged peasants to attack local officials

Death of Mao and New Leader September 9, 1976 Gang of Four (led by Mao’s Widow) vs. Deng Xiaoping – Gang of Four favored Cultural Revolution and Deng was against it Most sided with Deng and he became leader – Tired of death and disorder

Four Modernizations – 1980s Deng’s goal – to improve 1) agriculture 2)industry 3) science & technology 4) defense Agriculture – Contract responsibility system replace communes Farmers rent land and provide certain amounts at set prices and keep rest 1 st 8 years – farmers income tripled

Four Modernizations – 1980s Industrial Development – Change Focus from “heavy industry” to “light industry” Production of small consumer goods – More decision power to factory managers with reward system for being more productive – 4 Special Economic Zones (SEZ’s) Along China’s east coast in the south Attract foreign capital, companies, technology – Results Coastal cities grew rich – Interior regions lay behind, more urban, economy quadrupled in size (way of life improved)

Tiananmen Square - May 13 – June 4, 1989 “5 th Modernization” – Political Freedom – 100,000 people into Tiananmen Square to protest – Martial Law – Some demonstrators refused to leave – June 3 rd Rounded up leaders and killed them without trial Troops opened fire without warning killing 2,000 people – Economic growth can only succeed if people kept “in line”

Tiananmen Square - May 13 – June 4, 1989